Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive centuries to steer her squad into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, motivating them to a merciless comprehensive win over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally stellar 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Vizag venue. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as captain as well today, but we’ll take the win and move on,” she said.
Interestingly, the supreme expertise of Thursday’s chase as the duo put on 202 runs came after possibly the team's weakest display in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for spilling two of the six catches that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily got the job done,” Healy continued.
Since statistics was first taken on fielding metrics in the year 2013, the six missed catches represented Australia’s worst fielding display at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric continuous ten-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase remained manageable.
Healy Pleased with Win that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was pleased to learn that the victory, which puts her undefeated side top of the standings on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old captain raced to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest century of the tournament, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 balls she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with First World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after her partner got there off 43 balls. They went on to achieve the third-best partnership by any Australian duo at a World Cup event.
In the first innings, during the subpar fielding display, the captain dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a tough skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear chance off the same bowler but failed to review when the umpire rejected their shout.
The reinstated Brown sent down the quickest balls at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as King Leads
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by King, whose performance could have been more successful if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both chipped in, while Annabel Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to 13.
A batter's 44 runs and Mostary’s not out 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was made to look easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It's great when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” said player-of-the-match King. “Certainly it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to Indore to take on the English team and South Africa.”
